Page 95 of Godsbane
A sad smile turns up the corner of Theo’s mouth. “Blondie said you’d say that. Do you really believe you can’t go back to that person?”
“There is no going back, Theo. Not for me.”
CHAPTER 34
Quinn sits alone on the worn butterfly cushions, her champagne hair pooling over the broken arm of the settee as she rests her head on her shoulder. I slide into the small open space beside her, careful not to jostle her in case she’s asleep.
“Ivy,” she whispers as she wraps her arm around me and pulls my head to her chest.
A million questions fill my head.
How was the wedding?
Do you hate me?
Can you believe that I’m a god?
Is Emerald okay?
Do you hate me?
I finally settle on “Where’s Nick?” and immediately regret it.
“Hopefully keeping Lord Yarrow in check so we have a region to return home to. That’s what my letter asked him to do.”
“The letter where you told him you weren’t going to marry him?” Miles jokes from his reclined position on the floor.
I sit up in disbelief. “Thewhat?”
“I just told him that I needed some time to be certain. Someone that I trust very much reminded me that I shouldn’thave to try to love him. And she was right, as she usually is.” Quinn rolls her eyes playfully, a soft smile pulling at her lips.
“And you listened to her?” I ask. “You really took the advice of someone who knows absolutely nothing about love?”
“Oh, I think that someone knows a lot more about love than she wants to admit.”
Quinn’s eyes flick to the corner of the room where Cal stands around the kitchen table. Henry and Marianne, who finally appeared nearly an hour after everyone else arrived, along with the other governors and Theo, crowd around it, poring over the map of the palace and rehashing the attack plan we’ve been reciting for hours.
As if he can feel my gaze, Cal looks up from the rolled parchment, a determined fire burning in his gray eyes.
“You owe us stories, Ivy. Many,manystories, but let’s start with him. Is the Captain of Corinth as menacing in bed as he is out of it?” Miles playfully squeezes my knee, leaning in close in hopes of sharing whispers of gossip.
“I am not even going to dignify that with a response,” I say.
“That’s a yes,” he laughs.
“It doesn’t matter,” I sigh, turning my attention back to Quinn, whose eyes are still focused on the youngest lieutenant. “What’s going on with you and Theo?”
“Nothing,” Quinn answers, quickly snapping her gaze back to mine.
“Liar,” Miles mouths.
“I’m not the one who’s keeping secrets around here,” she retorts. “Our best friend never bothered to tell us that she’s a goddess. Can you believe it, Miles?”
“You’d think being best friends with a goddess would have had some perks,” he jokes. “Remember that time Father Munding gave us stable duty for a month for taking Nobus’ name in vain? You could have gotten us out of that, at least.”
Of all of the things my friends could have requested from me, that’s where they landed? A childish smile overtakes my face, a giggle breaking free at Miles’ demand. This is why I love them. This is why I should have always trusted them with my secret.
“If I remember correctly, you were the only one who cursed, yet somehow all of us, even the heir who was normally assigned to library duty, ended up shoveling shit. And it was only a week,” I clarify.
